Bit-forging apparatus



Dec. 5, 1933. L. BOiRTKEWICZ BIT FORGING APPARATUS Filed March 26, .1952

INVENTOR 4 the forging dies operate. ciprocated.

Patented Dec.5,1933 Y a I UNETED STATES -ATENT 0FF1EU sr'r-FoRGING APPARATUS Louie Bortkewicz, Joffre, Pa. I 7 Application March 26, 1932. Serial No. 601315 I 2 Claims. (o1. 76-'5) I My invention relates to the forging of cutter Considering first the forging'machine, Ihave bitS, particularly cutter bits of the type employed disclosed in my above noted Letters Patent that iin the' Ico' alcutting machines used in the mining the machine comprises a frame supporting 'an of coal. In general the problem of properly forganvil. The anvil includes two forging faces which 5 ing such :bits has been overcome by the forging extend angularly to one an'otherfrom a common v machine illnstrated and described in Letters Patline of intersection, and extend at an angle from -entlfilo. 1,518,601Igranted to me August 11, 1931, the horizontal,-the angles at which the forging and in myjco-pending application'serial No. 455,- faces lie with respect to the horizontal, T and with 005, filed May 23rd, 1330, now Patent No. 1,85'7,- respect to each other, being determined in accord n 011, granted May 3rd, 1932. Such forging 'ma- 'ance'withthe shape of the point to be forged on 5 chine comprises an anvil having two plane faces the cutter. 1 a 1 b extending angularly to one another from the line Co-operating with the anvil are two movable of intersection or meeting of the faces; a spring-- dies, one die being associatedwith-leach of the ioperated forging die is organized with each face forging faces of the anvil. The dies of the ma- ;15 of the anvil, and feeding mechanism is adapted chine are alternately reciprocated to and from to present a preheated bit-blank to the anvil. forging position against the-respective anvil faces; The forging dies are reciprocated alternately the means for reciprocating the dies include against the two faces of the anvil, and the heated springs which are successively energized and-reis provided with the desired forged point. leased, to activate the dies in the manner de- :29 v I am now coneerned with auxiliary apparatus scribed. As mentioned, the structure of the forg gfpruse in conjunction with the anvil and forging ing machine per seis fully disclosed in my patplies, to the end that the cold bit-blanks may be ents, above noted, and inasmuch as the particintroduced to the apparatus at one end and may ular co-operation between 'the die-operating emerge from the other end of the apparatus in mechanism and the dies is not primarliy ofthe 5 the form of completely forged cutter bits.- That essence of this invention, I illustrate theforg i is to say, I provide apparatus and method for machine fragmentarily in the accompanying doing the following things in preparing the bitdrawing, showing only the structure requiring blanks for forging, and in manipulating the bitpresent consideration. I

blanks before, during, and after forging: The reference numeral 1 is applied to the anvil, 30 1. Feeding the bit-blanks, one after another, which includes two forging faces 2 and 3;extend-j from a supply hopper into a heating furnace. ing angularly to one another and ang'ularly from 2. Heating the bit-blanks fed into the furnace the horizontal. The 'two forging 'dies4 and 5 are to forging temperature. reciprocative to and from forging position upon 3. Introducing the heated bit-blanks to the the anvil; the forging die 5 cO-Operates with face 35 mechanism which feeds them to the anvil. 3, and the die l co-operates with'fa'c'e 2 (cfLFig.

4. Presenting each'blank to the anvil and sup- IV) An opening 6 extendsthrough the bed B porting it against one of the twoforging' faces of of the machine, and through this Opening a heated the anvil and yieldingly supporting it at an interbit-blank is fed and supported against theanvil, val from the other forging face of the anvil while while the forging dies 4 and'5 are alternately re- 5. And ejecting the forged articles from the ap- A heated bit-blank is fed through the opening aratus, I 6 and heldin such position'against the cornered" In the accompanying drawing Fig. I is a view, anvil that the alternatelyreciprocatingdies forge ,partly in side elevation and partly in vertical secv s d p up it the bit-blank br [L5 rtion, of fgrging a ara;us'embodying t m n II). Thenthe pointed bit is released, falling 55 of the structure,

7 tion, the forging machine proper being fragmenthrough- Openi 6 andout of the machine.

tarily illustrated. Fig. II is a view in vertical 'sec- I provide a heating. furnace-7 which includes tion of the feeding mechanism of the forging maa way 8 upon which. a series of bit-blanks hmay chine, the view being taken on the plane II-II be supported. So much'o'fthe bit-blanks as are 5,0 of Fig. I. Fig. III is a view in elevation of such to be heated to forging temperatureextend upjeedingmechanism, as it appears on the plane wardly from the way 8, and, in accordance with III-rill of Fig. I. And Fig. IV is a fragmentary well-known continuous heating furnace practice, view 'of the anvil, illustrating in cross-section (on combustion means (not shown) are provided for the plane IVIV of Fig. II) an important element heating the bit-blanks. -A-su'pply hopper 9 is or-' ganized without the furnace, and in the hopper a column 10 of bit-blanks is stored. The lowest bit-blank of the column rests upon the way 8, and the side walls of hopper 9 clear the way 8 by an interval slightly greater than the thickness of a bit-blank, but less than the thickness of two bitblanks. A feeding bar 11 is slidable upon the face of way 8; a lever 12 is pivotally mounted upon a bracket 13; one end of the lever is articulated with the feeding bar 11, and the other end of the lever is connected to a flexible line 14, trained upon a pulley 15. A spring 16 is so organized as normally to maintain the parts in their illustrated positions. The line 14 extends from the furnace to a point where it is accessible to the operator of the forging machine. Upon pulling the line 14 the lever 12 is rotated counterclockwise and the feeding bar 11 is'moved rightto-left along the way 3, thrusting the lowermost bit-blank from beneath the column 10 and effecting the advance of the series of bit-blanks upon the jway 8, through an interval at least equal to the width of such bit-blank. The bit-blank at the left-hand end of the series on way 8 is thus shifted to a position over the open end 18 of a chute or passage 17, and accordingly the bitblank falls into the passage. Of course, such blank has during its advance through the furnace been- 'he ated to forging temperature.) Release of the line 1 4 permits the feeding bar 11, under the influence of spring 16, to return to its illustrated position, whereupon the column 10 of bit-blanks in the hopper 9 drops through the p interval vacated bythe last-advanced bit-blank, and-the parts are ready for another feeding operation. Thus it will be perceived that I have provided means, subject to the control of the S forging machine operator, for supplying heated bit-blanks to the passage 17. While I have shown simply a pull line 14 as the means for operatingthe' feeding bar 11, it will beunderstood a more specialized linkage can be, readily provided.

The bit-blanks b to be forged or pointed are usually of the form illustrated in Fig. I; that is,

. .lies the next succeeding, bit-blank.

the. form of the bit-blanks b is such that when they are arranged in series the tip of one overthat the bit-blanks must be placed on the way 8 .with their tips pointing toward the end of the ppassage.

furnace at which theyenter the passage 17, otherwisethe vbit-blanks will not fall freely into the That is to say, if the'tips of the bit --:blanks were directed to the right in Fig.1, the

:;: endbit-blank would tend to hang on the adjacent blank, when-shifted to release position over mouth 18. ,Thus it is desirable to so arrange the -.ibit blanksthattheir tips are directed in the man- ==ner shown in Fig. I. However, in so obviating the disadvantageof bit-blanks sticking or hanging over the mouth 18, I find that the bit-blanks upon falling into the passage 17 are not pointing in the correct position. for entrance to the forging ,machine; the blanks must be turned upon their axes through an angle of 90. solved by' providing a tortuous or twisting passage; that is, the passage or chute 1'! is so formed rathat, as the bit-blank b moves'thr'ough it under u includes'a blank-straightening device 20. i scribed in Letters Patent No. 1,857,011, above inoted, the blank straightening device comprises azdie. i2 pivotally-secured. to the. wall of the feedproper.

' ciprocative.

I have found.

lines b).

This difficulty is ing mechanism. A pivotally supported arm 44, having an eccentric head 45 bearing laterally against the distal end of the die 42, is effective leaving the passage 1'7. A rod 47 is vertically reciprocated by the moving parts of the forging machine, to effect oscillation of arm 44.

Upon moving under gravity through the straightening device 20, the heated and straightened bit-blank enters the feeding mechanism The feeding mchanism comprises a frame 21 in which a plunger 22 is vertically re- A pin 23 extends from the plunger and through a slot 24 in the wall of frame 21;

I a rotatable shaft 25 is supported on the bed 13 of the forging machine, and a handle 26 con-' veniently is provided on theshaft to admit of its manual rotation; an arm 2'? is secured to the shaft 25, and a rod 28 interconnects the pin 23 and said 2'7. It will he observedthat clockwise (Fig. III) rotation of shaft 25 willeffect a raising of the plunger 22, and counter-clockwise rotation will efiect a lowering of the plunger.

The frame 21 is internallyrecessedat 29, and in this recessa guide bar 30 (Fig. II) is located; the guide bar is integrated with a pin31 which extends through the side wall of the frame,.and to the projecting end of suchpin an arm 32 is secured (Fig. III). An operating stern 33 is secured at itslower end to the pin 23 of the plunger; the upper end of the stem (33) normally bears against the arm maintaining the arm 32 and the guide bar 30 with which it is integrated in thefull line positions, respectively shown in Figs. IIIand' II.v

An ejector guide 34, is integrated with a pin 35 (Fig. II); the pin 35 projects through thewall of frame 21, and has an arm 36-secured to it (Fig.

III) A tension spring 3'? is organized with the arm tending to maintain it in its illustrated I position (Fig. III). A rod 38 is attached to the arm extends downward, projecting with the nut serves to limit relative movement between the bar (39) andthe rod'(38).

The feeding mechanism parts are in the posi- A nut 40 is adjustable on the rod tion illustrated in Figs. II and III when the heated bit bla'nk is admitted to the straightening ing device, the bit-blank falls'down passage 41 (Fig. II) and is guided along bar'30 (fullline device 20. Upon passing through the straighten position) to the head of plunger 22 (cf. dotted Then the operator pulls the lever 26 forward, turning arm 27 clockwise, and elevating the plunger 22. As the plunger .22 starts upward, the stem 33 moves withit. The'tip of the stem 33, in moving upward, efiects the swing ing of the arm 32 to a position'against stop 50 (Fig. III), and in consequence the guide bar. 30 is shifted to thedo-ttedline position 3011 (Fig. II). Accordingly, a verticalpassage is provided for the bit-blank I) while the plunger 22 moves it upward. The plunger is shifted upward to the dotted line position 22a (FigLII), in which position the bit-blank is supported upon the, anvil. It should be noted that the top' of the plunger is formed with an angular or slanting face 22?), by reason of which the bit-blank is tilted to lie against the face 2 of thean vilj The alternately reciprocating dies 4 and 5 forge a When the bit-blank has been pointed, the hand lever 26 is thrust back, swinging the arm 27 back to its illustrated position in Fig. III. Accordingly, the completed bit lowers into the recess 29 again. The back swing of the lever 26 is continued. past its normal or initial position, so that the counter clockwise rotation of the arm 27 is effective to lower the plunger 22 below its blankreceiving position. As a result, the tip of stem 33 moves away from the arm 32, and the guide bar 30 drops to its dotted line position 3019 (Fig. II). This so-called additional lowering of the plunger 22 carries the bar 39 downward, engaging nut 40, and forcing arm 36 toturn against the resistance of spring 87. So, the ejector guide 34 is swung outward (Fig. II), kicking the forged bit from the top of plunger 22, whereupon the bit slides down the guidebar (30b) and is ejected from the machine.

During the operation of the reciprocating dies 4, 5 upon the bit-blank, I support the bit-blank in contact with the forging face 2 (by means of plunger 22) but I do not permit the bit-blank to lie freely against the forging faceB. I have found that the forging dies (Fig. IV) tend to form fins upon the point of the bit-blank; that is, during operation of the forging dies, the metal along the inner edges of the blank is pressed into the intervals, however slight the intervals may be, between the forging faces of the anvil and the adjacent lateral faces of the forging dies. More specifically, if one side of the bit-blank lies snug against the face 3 of the anvil, and the die 4 is impelled against the bitblank, there is. a tendency for the metal along the edge of that side of the blank to wedge between the face 3 of the anvil and the side face 441 of the die, thereby producing or forming a fin upon the blank. There is a similar tendency for a fin to be produced on the diagonally-opposite edge of the blank, by the action of the die 5. this objection comprises a yielding lateral support for the bit-blank. Such yielding support 5 comprises a stem 51, extending through thewall of the anvil. The stem 51 is provided with a head 52, projecting from the faceB of the anvil; a compression spring 53 is organized on stem" 51, between the head 52 and a fitting 54. The fitting 54 is secured in the anvil; a nut 55 is secured to the stern outwardly of the fitting 54, and the stem is slidable inthe fitting 54 against the re-" The discovery I'have made to obviate of contact between the race 3 or the anvii and the face 4a of the die. Accordingly, it is impossible for the metal of the blank to enter between the said faces of the anvil and die in such manner as to form a fin. The stem 51, of course, yields or recedes when the die .5 strikes the bit-blank, and the bit-blank is pressed or forged against the face 3, substantially as though the yielding support (51) were not present. My. experience has shown that the yielding member 52 co-operates with the rapidly oscillating dies 4, 5, to'maintain the bit-blank being forged in a constant state of agitation or chattering, so that the 'blankdoes not rest snugly against 7 either of the faces of the anvil, except when one or the other of the dies 4, 5 strikes it and moves it into forging engagement with one or the other of the respective forging faces 2, 3. While a yielding support (52) on one face of the cornered anvil has proven sufficient to overcome the objections referred .to, I contemplate that such a support may be organized with each forging face of the anvil. I may add that the bit-blank maintains its forging temperature longer when the yielding support'is employed. .That is to say, the yielding support positions the bit-blank an interval from the face 3 of the anvil, so that the blank isin contact with such face only for the short periods of time that the forging die 5 acts upon it. Thus loss of heat by conduction through the anvil is minimized.

I claim as my invention:

1. In forg'mg apparatus the combination of an anvil having two forging faces extending angularly to one another to form a corner region, two alternately reciprocating forging dies 00- operating with said anvil'for the shaping of a metal blank in said corner region, and a yielding support associated withsaid anvil for-normally spacing said blank from oneof said forging faoeawhich support yields under the influence of one of said forging dies and permits said blank tolie against the last-mentioned forging face.

2. In a bit-forging machine, the combination of an anvil having two forging faces extending angularly'to oneanother andforming a corner region in which the tip of a blank is adapted to lie, a forging die organized with each forging face, said forging dies being alternately reciprocable to and from forging position against said forging faces, and adapted tohammer the tip of saidblank into bit form, and means 'or-j gani'zed with said anvil to-support said blank" yieldingly at an interval from one of said forg 1 ing faces, said means being adapted to yield 130, under the impact/of one of said forging dies, whereby momentary contact of the blank against such forgingface is permitted. I

' LOUIE BORTKEWICZ. 

